Pedro Cruz (Brazil) - Could Online Data be the New Black?

Looking back at the history of ofﬂine marketing, we can see real parallels to what is happening today in the online world. The growth of direct marketing in the past three decades ago was driven by data. New data offerings and the development of analytical solutions to combine, and request huge volumes of data provided the platform to precisely deﬁne target audiences with relevant, timely personalized campaigns. The internet is now facing a similar moment and data will drive the growth of online advertising.

Where once were simply page views, visits and unique users there is now a truly new suite of data that can be used to drive online results. Business gurus say that 30% of customers deliver the majority of profits, 50% add nothing, and 20% of them cost companies money; targeting is all about clearly deﬁning prospects and then effectively reaching them. This requires deep understanding of their needs based on multiple data sources. To accomplish that in an online environment, technology is essential to collect, process and deliver in a efficient and quick manner. The ability to create precisely deﬁned audiences based on a huge wealth of attributes is now recognized as the backbone for effective digital campaigns.

Display advertising is a booming sector within interactive marketing but we are seeing e-commerce players make use of this kind of technology to increase sales. Targeting is helping publishers increase revenue by optimizing their ad inventories and even agencies are starting to demand the full array of audience targeting capabilities to increase advertisers results both with branding and direct response campaigns with click-through still being the success measurement.

Regarding consumer privacy, researches show that consumers are consistently more receptive to targeted ads, and those consumers represent a higher value audience, which makes them an attractive online advertising target.

Thomas J. Kuegler said: "One-to-one marketing, personalized content & information, targeted advertising... All of these ideas have been the big promise of the web since it became a marketing vehicle." The online world may be in a permanent state of change - but fortunately, that's one promise we can now fulfill!

Pedro Cruz is CEO & Co-founder at Navegg, the first Brazilian company dedicated to online optimization with focus on targeting technology.